Sunday, January 13, 2008

Better than Stretching

This workout was earned. Between the test day and hours spent shooting pool yesterday, I did not feel like lifting weights today. It took several meals, cleaning the garage, a hot bath, and a nap to get me ready to lift. Come 4:30 the sun was setting and I finally got to work:

1. On the Goblet Squats and Kettlebell Squats, I put my feet a little wider than shoulder width. This is probably twice as wide as they were previous workouts. I had absolutely zero knee pain. I might have been able to work through the narrow stance squats with lots of stretching, but doing them pain free in the first place is much, much better. These may bump to the 20k's next Sunday.

2. I added 20lbs on the Romanian deadlifts. They were heavier, but manageable. The weight will stay the same next Sunday.

3. Without any knee pain from the squats, my turkish get ups were easy. Next Sunday I will bump the warm up to 20k and the work sets to 24k.

4. I did the renegade rows in front of a mirror to watch my form. My focus was on keeping the kettlebells under my shoulders and not letting my hips move as I rowed the weight. This made the exercise much harder, I must have gotten sloppy. Tuesday's light workout will require dropping to the 16k's. 20k's will be used again next Sunday.

5. The one arm press got a little sloppy for my 4th rep on the second work set. I wanted progress on the exercise, but the renegade rows really took a lot out of me. My light workout on Tuesday will use the 16k's for warm up and work sets. 20k's again on Thursday.

6. I chose calf raises for my free exercise today. This is the first time I have done direct calf work since I hurt my foot falling down the stairs almost 2 years ago. I can tell I will be sore tomorrow. On the bright side, no foot pain.

Overall this workout went well and I am happy with it. The entire program took a mere 45 minutes. The time was really spent improving the quality of my movements opposed to lifting heavier weights. That's ok though, because pain free movement will pay off with bigger weights eventually.

Given the breakthrough with my squats and the knee pain, I am no longer sure about a metal DDR pad or an Airdyne. I am definitely going to order Rippetoes's two new books. $45 invested learning from him will do more for me than any exercise equipment.

I am excited for the Perform Better seminar. I have begun the process of tracking down the fitness professionals I worked with in college. Hopefully a few of them will attend and we can catch up.